TOKYO, Nov. 28 ― The Japanese government is set to draw a smart farm program by next summer to develop and adapt digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), into the agricultural sector.
The Shinzo Abe administration had a meeting on digital transformation in agriculture on Nov. 27.
“To take the agriculture sector to new heights, it’s inevitable to realize smart farm with AI and IoT,” Japanese Agriculture Minister Takamori Yoshikawa said at the meeting.
As technology develops, it will change the entire agriculture businesses and require growers to acquire new skills and a better understanding of the technologies.
There will be three elements to outline the smart farm program: future forms of agriculture businesses; roadmap to develop, trial and implement new and innovative practices; and building capacity to share knowledge and achievements in adopting the new practices.
The agriculture ministry has requested to allocate 5 billion yen for digital transformation in the sector in the next fiscal year starting April 1, 2019, to raise crop yields and make up for workforce shortages.